Industrial apparatus



March 21, 1961 s. KREBs ET AL 2,975,904

INDUSTRIAL APPARATUS Filed Oct, 27, 1958 INDUSTRIAL APPARATUS Filed Oct. 27, 1958, Ser. No. 769,792

3 Claims. (Cl. 211-46) This invention relates to a hanger assembly for supporting heavy pile fabrics such as rugs and carpets without damaging the fabric and without having the disadvantage of lexing.

rlibe present invention'represents an improved carpet hanger which is intended to be used, for example, in a carpet or rug display device of the type described in our copending application Serial No. 698,873 now abandoned.

It was `found that in supporting the relatively heavier rugs in the previous device, there was insufficient lateral stability in the truss or supporting elements, so that in a 9 span, which would be the minimum requirement, the truss had a tendency to spring sideways, thereby permitting the rugs to rub against each other in the center portions, 'and thus making the hangers difficult to operate in the tracks.

The present invention contemplates the use of a substantially rigid supporting channel member on which the rug is suspended without any possibility that the support and/or the rug will be able to spring or bend throughout its width.

A primary object of the invention, therefore, is to provide a rug suspending channel having a web and a pair of anges, means for clamping said plates in a relatively closed position against a folded fabric which is provided with an enlarging mandrel positioned between the ilanges.

A further object is to provide in Ia device of the character described, a pair of pivoted concave jaws which may be clamped around a mandrel and the fabric to maintain longitudinal rigidity at all times.

Further objects will be apparent from the specification and drawings in which:

Fig. l 'is a side view showing our improved rug hanger suspended from the track of a display device,

Fig. 2 is a transverse section as seen at 2 2 of Fig. l,

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional detail of the lower part of the structure of Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 is a sectional detail as seen at and Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but showing a modied hinge for the clamping jaws of the support.

The invention comprises essentially the provision of a rigid `channel having two jaws or anges extending the full width of a carpet. These jaws are provided with a lower concave area which may be arcuate or angular, so that the nip of the jaws 'is of substantially smaller dimension than a distance enclosed -between the jaws but spaced upwardly from the nip. A rug or carpet folded over a mandrel can be securely clamped between the jaws so that it cannot possibly fall out, and there is ample lateral rigidity in the structure of the device to prevent any flexing or bending sideways whatsoever.

Our improved rug clamp comprises in the preferred form a relatively xed ange or jaw l0 having a bent portion which forms web b and which is suspended from trolleys 11, 11 by means of adjustable hanger bolts 12, 12. 'llhe trolleys lil roll on an inverted T shaped 4-4 of Fig. l,

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Patented Mar. 2l, lgl

track 13 (Fig. 4) which is provided with depressed areas 14, 14 at each end thereof to insure that the carpet and the hanger remains in a non-selected position when it is not desired to be displayed. The end of the track 13y is provided with suitable limit stops or Ibumpers 15, 1S which may Ibe removed in order to initially thread the trolleys 11 on the track. A hinged flange or jaw 2t) is pivotallysecured to web 10b by means of a series of short pin hinges 21, 2l. A series of clamping bolts 22 extend through both jaws l0 and 20 and vare provided with wing nuts 23 so that the jaws may be firmly clamped together around a rug or carpet 24 which has desirably been folded over a mandrel 25. It will be noted that the nip of jaws Il@ and 20 at 26 and 27 is shorter than the span Ibetween lthe jaws at their mid positions 2.8 and 29. Thus, when the jaws are clamped together by means of wing nuts 23 and bolts 22, it is impossible for the carpet 24 to fall out of the jaws due to the diameter of mandrel 25. In addition, the use of the mandrel prevents too sharp a bend in the backing fabric which might otherwise be harmful to the rug or to the backsizing itself. Adjustability of the height of the hinge assembly may be achieved by means of the threaded ad justing nuts 30 and 31. Nut 32 serves to lock the stud i12 securely in place in the trolleys 11.

Instead of applying individual pin hinges 21, 2l as shown in Figs. l and 3, we may use, if desired, a continuous interlocking hinge of the type shown in Fig. 5. In other respects, the construction of Fig. 5 resembles the construction of Fig. 3 except that the stud 35 is offset and secured to jaw lua by rivets 36 and a modiied web construction 10c is utilized. This provides sucient clearance for the interlocking modified hinge element 37 to extend the entire length of the jaws 10a and 20a.

It will be understood that the use of a hinged clamping element extending the full width of a carpet which may be anywhere from 9 to l5 wide greatly assists in maintaining rigid supportV for the carpet. Furthermore, the present construction permits moving the trolleys ll, lll; closer to each other, thus assisting in preventing flexing between supports. The tubular or cylindrical mandrel '25 together vwith the formed jaws insure longitudinal rigidity and freedom from ilexing.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. A hanger assembly for suspending -a full sized pile rug comprising an overhead track of inverted T shape, at least two trolleys movable horizontally along said track, two pairs of rollers on each of said trolleys, a rigid elongated channel member having a web and two parallel downwardly depending flanges for extending substantially the entire width of a rug, a connection between each of the trolleys and the web of the channel, hinge means connecting one of the flanges to the web of the channel, a relatively dat vertically parallel upper surface on each of said flanges, one of said surfaces being contiguous to the hinge means, an outwardly facing concave portion on each of said flanges extending parallel to each other said concave portions -being positioned below and contiguous to the flat surfaces, a mandrel positioned between and parallel to the anges and in said concave portions thereof, and clamping means operative on the at surfaces for locking the flanges around the rug and the mandrel. v

2. A hanger assembly for suspending a full size pile rug comprising an overhead track of inverted T shape, at least two trolleys movable horizontally along sa-id track,

two pairs of rollers on each of said trolleys, a `depression near one terminus of the track vinto which the rollers v on one of the trolleys drop to prevent unassisted movement of said trolleys, a rigid elongated channel member having a web and two parallel downwardly depending flanges extending substantially the entire width of the rug, a connection between each of the trolleys and the web of the channel, hinge means connecting one of the flanges to the web of the channel, an inwardly concave area on each of said flanges positioned opposite eac-h other, a relatively flat parallel surface on each of the ilanges between 'the concave area and the web, a plurality of threaded clamping means extending through said at surfaces and adjustable to permit relative movement of one of the flanges on its associated hinge, rand a mandrel positioned in the concave area of the anges to retain a rug wrapped therearound.

3. A hanger assembly in accordance with claim 2 in which each ange has an outwardly ared lower edge contiguous to and below the concave area.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Holzh'alb Ian. 18, Homan Mar. l5, Haviland Dec. 8, Holland Dec. 2l, Bond June 22, McGann Apr. 2, Brown lune 12, Rosenberg Sept. 9, 

